How to Draw a Manga Monster

Learn how to draw a manga monster from art instructor Chris Hart in this Howcast video.

Transcript

Tiny manga monsters are fan favorites. They have so much personality for their little size. Let's get some hints on how to draw them. We start with this manga monster. As you can see, he's a little sad. People think sad, when it's cute, is very endearing. You don't want to get too close because he'll clobber you with those maces, those tails. But here's the basic construction of that guy.

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Now as you can see, the head is very round, almost a circle but it's a little narrower on top. The body is like a pillow sac, and the eyes are very, very low on the head. That's important, very low. Also, another thing you'll notice is that manga monsters don't have shines in the eyes. Sometimes they do, it's a matter of personal taste

OK, so let's start with the horns. The horns don't just go straight up. That looks a little odd. We're going to make them go out to the side at a diagonal, and not too long either because we don't want them to really look like weapons that could hurt you. This is just a cute monster.

Then we'll have ears that droop. Now why are they drooping? Because with cartoons and manga and creatures, ears also demonstrate the mood of the character. So he's sad, so his ears going to be drooping. And we'll make them two-toned.

Now for his expression. No nose, but a very tiny little mouth right here, right next to the center of the face. And if you want, you can give him a bridge of the nose. I haven't in the final one, but you can. It's very cute. And a little marking for the tummy, which should be a different color from the rest of it, usually lighter not darker. All right, so there is our little guy with a tear. Our manga monster.